


hey, I just met you, and this is crazy

by kinoface



Series: Drabbles / Memes [9]
Category: Japanese Actor RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, F/F, Not Beta Read, Request Meme
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-29
Updated: 2014-06-29
Packaged: 2018-02-06 16:34:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1864794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kinoface/pseuds/kinoface
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For Top's request: "Minako/Rei (or if you'd prefer, Ayaka/Keiko! ♥) - Coffee Shop AU!"</p>
            </blockquote>





	hey, I just met you, and this is crazy

**Author's Note:**

  * For [topazera](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=topazera).



> For the pairing/trope meme over [here](http://kinoface.dreamwidth.org/58237.html). Top gave me a lot of REALLY EXCELLENT prompts, but in the end I was won over by Ayaka/Keiko, a pairing I've been swooning over since PGSM yet somehow never wrote.
> 
> Unbeta'd!

It's a slow beginning to another mind-numbing Monday, and Ayaka is slumped over the front counter thinking about the full week ahead of her. Seven days of the morning shift all lined up in a row, with no one but Shibue-kun and the customers to keep her company.

It's that boring period between the morning rush and the lunch rush, so right now there are only three other people in the cafe: Shibue-kun pretending to do something important in the back room, the guy who comes in every day to drink tea and work on his "novel" in the corner, and the frazzled-looking college student who has a red eye and three textbooks spread out in front of her. Ayaka is absentmindedly twirling a strand of hair around her finger and thinking about ping pong when she hears a chime from the bell over the door, signaling a new customer.

Instantly she straightens up and puts on her brightest idol-in-training smile. "Welcome~!"

The woman who entered is dressed sharply in a grey pantsuit, her hair pulled back into a no-nonsense bun. She steps up to the counter and gives Ayaka a cordial nod before reciting her order, as if she's known exactly what she wants since the moment she woke up this morning. "I'll have a double chocolate chunk frappuccino, medium, no whip, with a shot of espresso. Please."

The very serious way in which the woman just ordered this very playful drink has Ayaka struggling to stifle a laugh as she rings up the order. The woman regards her coolly -- maybe she didn't stifle that laughter as well as she thought -- and pays in exact change. As Ayaka takes the money, she can't help but notice the woman's hands: no jewelry, nails that are trim and bare except for a coat of clear polish.

Ah, Ayaka thinks. So she's concerned with her appearance but practical as well.

The ring of the bell drew Shibue-kun from the back room, and now he grabs the cup Ayaka wrote the order onto and starts preparing the drink. The woman steps back and pulls out her phone, swiping her fingertips across the screen with purpose. Ayaka catches herself staring and wipes down the counter to make herself look busy.

When Shibue-kun finishes the drink and sets it down on the pick-up counter, he doesn't even have to open his mouth to call out the order. The woman snatches it wordlessly, sips at it to make sure it's perfect, and thanks them both with another cordial nod. Then she turns and leaves without a look back.

Ayaka thinks: Maybe this week won't be so boring after all.

~

It's that same slow, in-between time on Tuesday morning, and Ayaka once again finds herself slumped over the counter with nothing to do. She's examining her nails, thinking it might be time to go in and get them re-done, and remembering the short, cutely simple nails of the woman from yesterday.

As if on cue, the bell gives a jingle, and Ayaka looks up to find that exact woman strolling into the cafe. Today she's in another business suit, dark blue this time with a pencil skirt that shows off her shapely calves, and a sensible pair of black flats. Her hair is still pulled back in a tight bun.

Ayaka glances up to check the time: 10:38.

The woman orders a double chocolate chunk frappuccino, medium, no whip, with a shot of espresso, just like yesterday, and steps away from the counter to wait as Shibue-kun starts making the drink, just like yesterday. But this time, she stays a little closer. She stands with her hands clasped gently behind her back, eyes scanning the menu idly.

Ayaka can't resist. "On your way to work?" she asks, leaning over the counter to catch the woman's gaze.

The woman's eyes snap to her immediately. "Oh -- yes. I'm a copyeditor for the newspress across the street."

"Uwaaa, how fancy." Ayaka is used to faking enthusiasm when she talks to boys, but something about this woman has her genuinely interested. She wants to know everything she can. "Do you like it?"

"Mm, I do. I'm still getting used to living in Tokyo, but I love the job."

"Oh! Where are you from?"

For the first time, the woman smiles. "Kobe." Then she catches herself, smile shrinking by a fraction as her eyes flit away shyly. "What about you -- are you from here?"

"Oh, no, I'm from Iwate-ken. I moved here to try and make it big, but..." She shrugs and motions to the cafe around her. "You can see how well that's going."

The woman's smile grows again, a little different this time. "If that's what you want, you shouldn't give up."

Ayaka's heart gives a flutter at that, but before she can say anything in response, Shibue-kun is calling out the order. The woman steps over toward the pick-up counter to grab it, moving hastily now as if she just remembered she's in a rush. She bows her head to both of them, but when she speaks, her eyes are on Ayaka.

"Thank you," she says. She glances down to where Ayaka's nametag is pinned to her uniform. "Komatsu-san from Iwate-ken."

Under the woman's gaze, warm and somehow stoic all at once, Ayaka feels her cheeks go hot. She does her best to tamp that down and still can't keep from waving like a schoolchild as the woman walks away. "Come again~!"

~

At 10:43 on Wednesday, Ayaka walks out of the storage room and finds the woman standing in front of the display counter, intently studying the cookies and pastries. The woman looks up at the sound of footsteps, and when she sees Ayaka, she straightens up with the barest hint of a smile.

Today she's wearing a skirt again, black, with a pinstriped jacket on top and the same flats as yesterday. But this time, instead of her usual perfect bun, there are a few loose wisps of hair falling stylishly around her ears. She also has an ID badge hanging off the lapel of her jacket. There's a picture of her in yesterday's clothes, face serious and blank, with a name printed underneath: _Kitagawa_.

Ayaka returns to her usual place behind the counter and says, "Ah, you have a badge now."

"Hm?" The woman looks confused before she looks down at the spot Ayaka is pointing to and sees her ID. "Oh, yes! I got it yesterday, along with my office."

"An office! You must be very important."

The woman -- Kitagawa -- waves her hand bashfully. She orders her drink after that, the same as before, and when Ayaka picks up the cup to scribble the order onto it for Shibue-kun, she writes underneath in big, clear characters, _Kitagawa-san from Kobe._

When the drink is ready and Kitagawa picks it up, she immediately spots the name but says nothing about it. She sips her drink slowly, as if contemplating what to say, but in the end all she says is "Thank you." She gives her usual cordial nod to both of them, and then, before she turns to leave, she looks at Ayaka specifically. "See you tomorrow, Komatsu-san from Iwate-ken."

~

When Kitagawa walks into the cafe at 10:38 on Thursday morning and starts to order, Ayaka just points to the pick-up counter. The double chocolate chunk frappuccino, medium, no whip, with a shot of espresso is already made and waiting for her, nothing but _Kitagawa-san_ written on the side.

She steps hesitantly towards the counter, then glances back at Ayaka, who just grins wider. When she finally picks it up and tastes it, suspicion gives way to surprise as she finds that it's exactly what she usually orders.

She looks up at Ayaka and her mouth curves up by the smallest amount, as if she can't quite manage to suppress her happiness.

~

On Friday, she walks into the cafe with her hair pulled into a low ponytail and money already in her hand. She goes straight to the pick-up counter and sees her drink waiting for her, this time with a new name scrawled on the side of the cup: _Kitagawa-chan._

She doesn't comment on it, but as she pays for the drink, the look in her eyes is just a little more playful than usual.

~

It's Saturday, and even though Ayaka has no way of knowing if Kitagawa will show up, something tells her she should make the drink anyway. Perhaps it's Kitagawa's voice in the back of her mind, telling her, _If that's what you want, you shouldn't give up._ Emboldened by the memory and simultaneously calmed by the knowledge that Kitagawa might not even be there to see it, Ayaka writes a new name onto the cup: _Kita-chan._

To Ayaka's delight, Kitagawa _does_ show up, wearing cuffed jeans and a loose-fitting button-up. Her hair, so often pulled back in those practical, out-of-the-way hairstyles, is down today, falling just past her shoulders and framing her soft, pretty face. Ayaka honest-to-goodness feels her heart skip a beat.

"Welcome," she calls, like this is any other customer, but she doesn't even try to wipe the grin off her face. "Catching up on work?"

Kitagawa grabs her drink from the pick-up counter and carries it over to Ayaka along with her money. "Not really," she says. She hands Ayaka the cash and takes a long sip of her drink, then licks a drop of chocolatey coffee from her lips. "I just couldn't start the day without my usual pick-me-up."

~

When she walks in on Sunday, there's a special message waiting for her on the side of her cup.

 _Kita-chan from Kobe: Shall we get coffee together some time?_ It's signed _Aya-chan from Iwate-ken_ , and underneath that is a phone number framed by little hearts.

Kitagawa sees it and stands still for a very long moment. Then she walks over to the counter with her money, and as Ayaka takes it and opens up the register, Kitagawa leans onto the counter with drink in hand and flashes the wide, heart-stopping smile Ayaka's been waiting for this whole week.

"Call me Keiko."


End file.
